The National Labor Relations Board gave skilled care operators another kick to the gut Friday.
It decided that under the right conditions, union elections might no longer be mandatory. Instead, the old card-check method will often suffice.
In a major boost for unions, the Democrat-leaning board voted 3-1 to let unions represent workers without elections when a majority sign authorization cards — and the employer is found to have committed a labor law violation.
As anyone on either side of a union drive can tell you, things can get fairly contentious when issues such as salaries, benefits and working conditions hang in the balance. Which brings us to an interesting dispute-resolution question: Who gets to decide if an employer has stepped over the line during a union drive?
Predictably, it’s the same NLRB that holds this authority. Now to say that the NLRB has been pro-labor in its rulings lately would be more than mere understatement. Completely pro-labor is more like it.
So Friday’s announcement, despite being absolutely one-sided and more than a little unfair, was not much of a surprise.
Nor was it really a shock one day earlier, when the board announced a final rule that revives pro-union regulations dating back to the Obama era.
In an accompanying press release, the NLRB made little effort to hide its loyalties.
“Today’s decision, along with the board’s recently issued Final Rule on Representation, will strengthen the board’s ability to provide workers across the country with a timely and fair process for seeking union representation,” said Chairman Lauren McFerran.
Not that everyone is embracing the prospect of card checks becoming the new norm.
Critics, such as the National Right to Work Foundation, rightly argue that card checks are susceptible to manipulation and other underhanded tactics. Moreover, they lack the protections offered by secret ballots, according to Mark Mix, president of the organization.
“The core principle of American labor law is that the workers choose the union,” Mix said in a statement. “The Biden Administration has turned this commonsense principle on its head.”
It’s important to note that we saw a lot of pro-business decisions coming from the board when Republicans ruled the roost. Or at least, the White House.
And therein lies a big part of the management-labor problem in America today. The board members who are supposed to be the referees almost always have a rooting interest in the outcome.
In what courtroom would we expect judges to ignore even the pretense of impartiality? At the NLRB, it’s standard practice.
And the results speak for themselves.
John O’Connor is editorial director for McKnight’s.
Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.
